“Wives Are Cheating 40% More Than They Used To, But Still 70% as Much as Men”: Zach Schonfeld

According to recent data from the National Opinion Research Center’s General Social Survey , American wives were nearly 40 percent more likely to be cheating on their spouses in 2010 than in 1990 . The number of husbands reporting infidelity, meanwhile, stayed constant at 21 percent, meaning wives are now cheating 70% as often. Could women soon be catching up with male indiscretions in the world of infidelity? Yanyi Djamba, director of the AUM Center for Demographic Research, certainly seems to think so, telling Bloomberg that “the gender gap is closing” and explaining that men have been more likely to blame adultery on an unhappy marriage.

What could be driving the rise of female cheating? Explanations abound, ranging from women’s increased economic independence over the past several decades (women “can afford the potential consequences of an affair, with higher incomes and more job prospects,” argued one sociologist) to cultural shifts to the Internet (including but not limited to dating and extramarital meetup sites).